Pencil with self-refilling cartridges



Aug. 29, 1967 Q CHAO FU c U ET AL 3,338,215

PENCIL WITH SELF-REFILLING CARTRIDGES I Filed Dec. 16, 1965 United States Patent Ofilice 3,338,215 Patented Aug. 29, 1967 3,338,215 PENCIL WITH SELF-REFILLING CARTRIDGES Chao Fu Chin, 73 Yung Ho Road, Chung Yuan Village, Chung Ho, Taipei Hsien, and Li Hung, 100 Chung Yi Road, Pai Chin Li, both of Taiwan Filed Dec. 16, 1965, Ser. No. 514,254 4 Claims. (Cl. 120l4.8)

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in writing implements and, more particularly, to a pencil which is characterized by a suitable number of pre-sharpened leads carried by cartridges contained in a tubular holder and which leads may readily be replaced with fresh pre-sharpened leads contained in said tubular holder.

It is a principal object of this invention to dispense with the usual sharpening of a lead pencil when the lead has become blunt.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a substitute for the ordinary pencil having lead encased in wood in the form of a pencil made of plastic or other low-priced material.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a pencil having lead tightly fixed at the tip of a holder to prevent the lead from being easily broken, which is common in the case of a screw-type of self-refilling encil. p It is still another important object of the present invention to provide a writing implement having a plurality of writing units positioned in a tubular casing, there being a suflicient number of said writing units in said casing so that removal of the front-most writing unit from the casing and its insertion in the rear end of said casing will result in the movement of the writing unit immediately behind said front-most writing unit to a position such that its writing point projects out of the front end of said casing.

It is a still further important object of the present invention to provide a lead pencil in the form of a casing having a plurality of pro-sharpened lead-containing writing units positioned in end-to-end position in the casing, each of said writing units being provided with a recess at its rear end so that the lead of each writing unit except the frontmost writing unit nests in the recess of the writing unit immediately in front of it.

These and other important objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in connection with the ensuing description and claims and drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a pencil having self-refilling cartridges in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the pencil illustrated in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of car tridges used in connection with the pencil illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, cartridge 1 (alternatively referred to in this specification and claims as a writing unit) is formed with a front end 1a of relatively small diameter and a rear end 1b of relatively larger diameter, a presharpened lead 2 beingsupported in said front end 1a. Rear end 1b of cartridge 1 is provided with a hollow or recess which is divided into two portions. The frontmost portion of the recess is one of small diameter used to receive and protect said pre-sharpened lead 2 of the cartridge immediately behind it; the rear-most portion of said recess is of relatively larger diameter and is provided to receive the front end 1a of the next succeeding cartridge.

The pencil holder or casing 3 is of the tubular type and is provided with two sleeves 3b and 3c. The front-most sleeve 31) has a hollow 3b fixed at the front end of casing 3 and the rear sleeve 3c, having a hollow 3c, is supported at the rear end of casing 3. The front sleeve 3b is formed to receive in frictional relationship the rear end 1b of the front-most cartridge 1. The rear sleeve 30 has an inner diameter which is substantially the same dimension as the inner diameter of front-most sleeve 3b and receives in frictional relationship the rear-most portion 1b of the rearmost cartridge 1. As will be seen clearly in FIG. 2, the front end 3c" of sleeve 30 projects inwardly toward the longitudinal axis of casing 3 to provide an elastic guide for the rear portion 1b of the rear-most cartridge in casing 3 so that such cartridge will be properly guided into the hollow of the casing. Such projection 30 also prevents retraction of the cartridges from casing 3 upon the application of pressure to the front-most cartridge during the writing operation.

As will be apparent from the foregoing description and the drawing, the pre-sharpened lead 2 of the front-most cartridge 1 will be normally exposed at the front end of the casing 3. When this lead has become blunt or broken, the front-most cartridge can be readily removed by pulling it out of the front end of casing 3. The front end 1a of this removed cartridge can then be inserted into the recess 10 of the rear-most cartridge of casing 3 and pushed into the rear sleeve 3c until the fresh pre-sharpened lead 2 is exposed at the front end of easing 3. By repeating this operation each time the front-most lead 2 is blunted or broken, such pre-sharpened leads may be continuously exposed at the front end of casing 3 and no conventional sharpening operation will be required.

As will be apparent, the particular advantages of the construction previously illustrated and described are best availed of when the writing implement involved is a lead pencil of the type described. Certain advantages of the present invention may also be obtained using other types of writing implements, however, and it is to be therefore understood that the present invention is to be also deemed to be directed broadly to such other writing implements as well as specifically to lead pencils.

This invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which comes within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

1. A writing implement comprising a tubular casing having a front end and a rear end; a plurality of writing units positioned in end-to-end position in said casing, each of said writing units having a writing point in its front end and a recess in its rear-most portion, each of said writing points of said writing units being nested in said recess in the rear-most portion of the writing unit immediately in front of it; the writing point of the front-most writing unit projecting out of the front end of said casing; a sufficient number of writing units being present in said casing so that removal of said front-most writing unit from said casing and its insertion in the rear end of said casing will result in the movement of the writing unit behind said 3 front-most writing unit to a position such that its writing point projects out of the front end of said casing, said rear end of said casing being provided with locking means containing a longitudinally extending central opening to prevent the front-most writing unit from retracting into said casing upon the application of pressure to said frontmost writing unit but to permit the insertion of writing units therethrou gh without the removal of said locking means from said casing.

2. A writing implement as defined in claim 1 wherein said locking means is comprised of a projection located inside said casing and extending inwardly towards the longitudinal axis of said casing.

3. A writing implement as defined in claim 1 wherein the inner diameter of the front and rear ends of said casing are of approximately the-same dimension.

4. A writing implement as defined in claim 1 wherein the majority of said writing units are frictionally independent of said casing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 499,191 6/1893 Fornander 120-14.8

584,999 6/1897 Goldsmith et al 12014.8

650,078 5/1900 Keck 120 14.8 1,062,274 5/1913 Fischer 120-14.8 1,278,147 9/1918 Hess 1 12014.-8 1,378,174 5/1921 Kaiser 12014.8 2,942,577 6/1960 Solow 120-83 OTHER REFERENCES 68,637 5/1915 Austria.

LAWRENCE CHARLES, Primary Examiner. 

1. A WRITING IMPLEMENT COMPRISING A TUBULAR CASING HAVING A FRONT END AND A REAR END; A PLURALITY OF WRITING UNITS POSITIONED IN END-TO-END POSITION IN SAID CASING, EACH OF SAID WRITING UNITS HAVING A WRITING POINT IN ITS FRONT END AND A RECESS IN ITS REAR-MOST PORTION, EACH OF SAID WRITING POINTS OF SAID WRITING UNITS BEING NESTED IN SAID RECESS IN THE REAR-MOST PORTION OF THE WRITING UNIT IMMEDIATELY IN FRONT OF IT; THE WRITING POINT OF THE FRONT-MOST WRITING UNIT PROJECTING OUT OF THE FRONT END OF THE CASING, A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF WRITING UNITS BEING PRESENT IN SAID CASING SO THAT REMOVAL OF SAID FRONT-MOST WRITING UNIT FROM SAID CASING AND ITS INSERTION IN THE REAR END OF SAID CASING WILL RESULT IN THE MOVEMENT OF THE WRITING UNIT BEHIND SAID FRONT-MOST WRITING UNIT TO A POSITION SUCH THAT ITS WRITING POINT PROJECTS OUT OF THE FRONT END OF SAID CASING, SAID REAR END OF SAID CASING BEING PROVIDED WITH LOCKING MEANS CONTAINING A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING CENTRAL OPENING TO PREVENT THE FRONT-MOST WRITING UNITS FROM RETRACTING INTO SAID CASING UPON THE APPLICATION OF PRESSURE TO SAID FRONTMOST WRITING UNIT BUT TO PERMIT THE INSERTION OF WRITING UNITS THERETHROUGH WITHOUT THE REMOVAL OF SAID LOCKING MEANS FROM SAID CASING. 